


Gameplay

by lialin1021



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 14:39:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11382255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lialin1021/pseuds/lialin1021
Summary: Baekhyun believed that he was really great at the game of flirting and wooing other people.  But then suddenly, a hot tall guy, whose name Baekhyun had forgotten to ask for, called him out on his dating behaviour. Baekhyun tried not to place much importance on it, unaware that the unexpected rejection would later come back to haunt him.





	Gameplay

**Author's Note:**

> **Translations:** If anyone's interested here is the story in Russian: [Gameplay](https://ficbook.net/readfic/6373748) (translation by [ali_miller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ali_miller/pseuds/ali_miller))
> 
>  **Note:** This story is a spin-off to: [The thirtieth and the last](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8132329) (but it is not necessary to read it before reading this one)
> 
>  **My thoughts:** It is my first time writing about this ship but I am glad that my previous fic brought me to this idea since I really enjoyed it. Baekhyun and Sehun just have this interesting dynamics between them with a great potential for a story so I decided to put my own twist on it. Hopefully, it will be a good twist.
> 
> Thank you so much to anyone who will read this. Kudos and comments are very, very appreciated!

Baekhyun’s lifelong conviction was that one should not mope for an excessively long period of time after a breakup. All the crying, ice-cream eating, tear-jerkers watching and wailing could be very helpful, there was no doubt about that, but only in the initial phase – it became annoying and pointless after that. The optimal period of time for this initial phase was about three days. In case of a bad breakup, he could even tolerate it up to five days. But that was it. No more sorrow from then on, time to get back in the game.

He didn’t care about people saying that a person should wait at least a month or so to start dating again. That was such bullshit, probably fabricated by some hopeless people who wanted the single scene not to be that competitive. Or resentful people who couldn’t get laid. In his opinion, postponing dating again only led to being scared and insecure. Plus, there was no need to get in a serious relationship right away. On the contrary, some flirting or just having fun without commitment complied more than enough. It increased self-confidence and broadened horizons about how many hot and single people there actually were. And that there was not, in fact, only one person who could ever satisfy your needs. Oh no, you could find lots of individuals like that, just waiting to be chatted up.

So naturally, after appropriately waiting for five whole days, Baekhyun made his best friend put on tight skinny jeans with a close-fitting shirt and dragged him to a gay club. He paid no attention to Jongdae’s grumbling – there was just no way in hell he would have left him stay in his pyjamas, watching shitty TV for another day. Even if throwing Jongdae over his shoulder, personally carrying him past security and hurling him at the first hot stranger seemed like the only option to do so. But Jongdae yielded, realizing that he was already in front of the entrance (he had paid way too much attention to opposing the idea instead of trying to stop the plan in motion, and no such measures were necessary in the end). So they just went in (with the accompaniment of Baekhyun’s triumphant sniggering), got drinks and occupied a vacant table.

It took less than an hour for Baekhyun to deem himself completely brilliant. The timing of his intervention couldn’t have been better – thus it had nothing to do with his own brilliance, the luck played much bigger role. But that was a minor detail in Baekhyun’s mind when he suddenly spotted a stunningly handsome young businessman standing next to their table, saying hi to them. The same businessman who was harbouring a very serious crush on his best friend.

“Junmyeon, what a nice surprise! It’s really great to bump into you here. And may I say that you look quite dashing in the casual clothes,” Baekhyun pulled down the man to an empty seat at the table. If his grin had been any wider, his face would have most probably ripped.

“Thanks,” Junmyeon glanced down at his simple attire. Baekhyun couldn’t tell for sure under the club lighting but it seemed like he was blushing a bit.

“Shouldn’t it be Junmyeon-hyung for you though?” Jongdae furrowed his eyebrows. “It’s called manners, Baekhyun, if you haven’t heard of them.”

Leave it to Jongdae to ruin the carefree mood. It was painfully obvious to Baekhyun that his best friend failed at hiding jealousy. Kind of ironic since Jongdae suggested, when he still had been in a relationship, for Junmyeon and Baekhyun to go on a date. And Baekhyun wouldn’t have minded at all – the other man was fairly attractive, smart and rich. Little bit stiff though, but they could have worked on that. However, dating a person who was in love with his best friend didn’t appeal to Baekhyun. He rather hated the idea and Junmyeon totally agreed with him on that. Still, it was a shame because they got on quite well with each other.

So even though Jongdae had tried to set them up in the past, he didn’t seem to be a fan of their possible close friendship all of a sudden. Baekhyun couldn’t hold it against him though – Jongdae was very fond of Junmyeon. He would have never cheated on his boyfriend but there had been some feelings, inappropriate for a person in a committed relationship to have, Jongdae had tried to ignore. And after becoming single again, it seemed like it was up to Baekhyun to prompt him to set those feelings finally free.

“Someone might have mentioned them to me at one point or another but I guess I was too busy to pay attention,” he responded cheekily to Jongdae calling him out on his manners – or rather to a lame way how to cover up jealousy, as Baekhyun called it in his head.

“It’s okay, Jongdae,” Junmyeon said, kindly smiling as always. “Baekhyun doesn’t seem like the type to use honorifics a lot and I don’t mind. After all, I’m only a year older.”

Baekhyun fought down the urge to smirk at his friend (only because he didn’t feel like being strangled for that when they were alone). “See, Jongdae? He’s fine with it. Anyway, Junmyeon, your timing is great. I’ve been just trying to explain to Jongdae the importance and merits of rebound sex but he still doesn’t get it,” he decided to bright up the important theme of their night out.

“I don’t agree with the idea but Baekhyun doesn’t seem to take the hint,” Jongdae rolled his eyes, trying to appear unfazed and it could have worked on anyone else but Baekhyun.

He shook his head and squeezed Jongdae’s shoulder. “Look, Jongdae, your heart has been broken, we get it. It’s fine to cry for three days straight, really. But now it’s time to move on. So I’m going to tell you what exactly you are going to do... you are going to call or text the best sex of your life and let him fuck your brains out, okay?”

“The best sex of my life was Yixing.”

Oh. _Oh_. Baekhyun twitched a bit because, well, that was awkward. He could physically feel the mood tensing up. “I should have known. Hands of a musician and moves of a dancer, a sinful combination indeed,” he clicked his tongue and heaved a sigh. His eyes wandered to the young businessman who looked disconcerted, to say the least. “Good luck, Junmyeon.”

“Thanks,” Junmyeon replied absent-mindedly. He stiffened after the few seconds it had taken him to realize meaning of those words. “Wait... what?”

“Don’t pay attention to him,” Jongdae recommended quickly.

Baekhyun chuckled because it was clear that Junmyeon’s mind was completely occupied by that allusion. His job there was done so all he had to do was leave those two alone with their mutual affection and sexual tension.

A perfect way out actually appeared few minutes ago – during their conversation, he noticed some guy eyeing their table. He was flattered but not surprised. After all, he had styled his hair up a bit (just the right amount for him to look hot but not like he tried too hard to look hot) and put on a casual white dress shirt which he tucked into light blue ripped jeans that enhanced all his assets. A damn appealing look on him. That said guy was not bad looking himself – okay, he was more like totally hot. 10 out of 10 in Baekhyun’s book, hands down. He was tall and quite lean but not in a bad or unattractive way. For all Baekhyun knew, he could be even hiding some abs under that black shirt despite his skinny figure. Plus, his shoulders were so broad – like they went on for miles. He displayed all of that gorgeousness as he leaned on a railing, a drink in hand. _Damn_. Baekhyun licked his lips.

“Okay, fellas,” he clapped his hands once. “I’m going to leave you two here and go talk to that tall, hot guy who’s been staring at me for past five minutes, and introduce myself. See you later and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

He enthusiastically got up from his seat and winked at the two men as he was quickly leaving, giving Jongdae no chances to protest. His best friend would thank him afterwards, preferably the next morning after a long, steamy night with Junmyeon.

Baekhyun made his way to the club railing, aiming for his own long, steamy night. He walked resolutely, yet still taking his time to appear as nonchalantly and laid-back as possible. It was quite the struggle to give a graceful impression while getting round all the tables, chairs and people with a drink in hand, and maintaining eye contact with the hot guy on top of that. Yes, they locked their eyes the moment that guy noticed Baekhyun heading his direction.

“Hi there,” Baekhyun leisurely leaned on the railing next to the hot guy, still not breaking eye contact. “I’m Baekhyun and I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been observing me from over here... so I decided I should come over to say hi,” he kept his voice low, just the way he knew sounded sexy.

The hot guy furrowed his thick eyebrows in what seemed like confusion. “I wasn’t...” his voice trailed off as he shifted his gaze to the table with only Jongdae and Junmyeon at that moment. After few moments his expression changed to something that finally resembled understanding. “Oh,” he breathed out. “I wasn’t watching you, actually. I was looking at your friend, sorry.”

Baekhyun felt the blush creeping to his face. How could he have misunderstood that? He had been completely sure that the stare had aimed at him. _Fuck_. That must have been in top ten most embarrassing moments of his whole life. He wanted to run away but his body and mind couldn’t bear more disgrace at that moment so he had to try to maintain composure. And... wait. Who exactly had been the hot guy staring at then? He glanced at the table. From Junmyeon only the back of his head could be seen so... of _fucking_ course, it was Kim Jongdae! Damn that guy and his face.

 _Stay calm, maintain composure_ , Baekhyun had to remind himself.  But then a brilliant idea crossed his mind – and he had to suppress an evil cackle. “Oh, really? Well, what can you do, misunderstandings like that happen all the time, right?” he said coolly first. “Anyway, sorry to break it to you but that friend is totally straight.”

He had waited for that hot guy’s bewildered expression before he continued. “Yeah, I know it doesn’t seem like it with those skinny jeans and all but that’s just the way he dresses. He’s just here to hang out with his gay friends because his girlfriend broke up with him so he’s kind of done with girls... but not in the way that he wants to try dick now, no, he’s pretty much set on the whole loving only vaginas thing.”

Baekhyun should have found it in himself to feel bad about that shameless lie.  He really, really should have. But nope, not even a hint of remorse. So what? There was something blooming between Jongdae and Junmyeon and it would have been such a shame if some other person had ruined that. Plus, looking at him up close, that hot guy was so handsome it hurt. Too handsome to walk away from only because he had been staring at someone else. It was a win-win situation for all parties included. Junmyeon would have his shot at seducing Jongdae, Jongdae could pay his attention only to Junmyeon and wouldn’t have to worry about some other guy hitting on him, and Baekhyun would get to fuck the hot guy. Perfect, right? Oh and the hot guy... well, it was pretty obvious – he would get Baekhyun, what more he could possibly wish for.

When it seemed like the hot guy wasn’t going to comment on Jongdae’s (actually nonexistent) straightness, Baekhyun decided to make his proposition. “So I was thinking, despite this rather awkward start, what about getting to know each other better?”

There was silence between them for couple of seconds because the hot guy took his awfully long time to respond.  “Okay, sounds good,” he drawled.

Baekhyun had to strain his ears to hear him over the club noise. He for sure couldn’t have guessed the response from his face since it was terribly expressionless. But the lack of expression was definitely compensated by handsome features – especially the chiselled jawline which made Baekhyun gulp. “Are you mixed-race?”

The hot guy was taken aback by the sudden question but then suddenly started laughing. “To be honest, I get that a lot... but usually not that soon in a conversation with a complete stranger so you kind of surprised me,” he ran his fingers through his silky black hair. “Anyway, to answer your question, no, I’m not. My whole family is Korean and I seriously doubt any of them have even been overseas. So it’s just our genes, I guess.”

Baekhyun would have liked some of those genes for his family too even though he could not complain. “That’s kind of amazing. So, do you and your superior genes go to this club often?”

He considered it a small victory when the hot guy chuckled at that. “Not that often, we like to visit various places... but this club is our favourite for Saturday nights. What about you and your refined sense of humour?”

“We go here from time to time, thank you for asking. But my refined sense of humour prefers less fancy places while I like to dress up when I go out so we usually end up arguing over where we should go on nights like this,” said Baekhyun, pleased that the other man was playing along with him.

“I see. And who usually wins?”

“Well, look at me properly and I think you can figure it out,” Baekhyun gave him a smug look. He stretched his legs out more as he was leaned on the railing and turned a bit so the whole outfit could do its magic.

He was well aware of his great proportions that he possessed despite short height. Also, his wide hips stood up perfectly with a shirt tucked in jeans. A money-maker if you asked him. So he didn’t get nervous or self-conscious when the hot guy scrutinized him with his deep, dark eyes. On the contrary, Baekhyun revelled in it and took a much better look at that guy himself. The first thing that went through his mind was that he definitely wouldn’t have minded being touched with those hands all over his body.

“I guess you had some good arguments.”

“I always have good arguments. You wouldn’t want to argue with me, trust me. I can work wonders with my mouth.” Baekhyun mentally patted himself on the back for that innuendo.

The hot guy simply nodded – either ignoring it or being oblivious as hell. “Being eloquent is always an advantage. Do you get to make use of it in your job?”

“You bet. I’m a bartender and the more people like to talk to you the more money they will spend. Mouth is really important for a bartender. It’s the same with hands – you have to do a really good job at shaking those drinks, you know?”

Baekhyun tried it another time as but was met with the same lukewarm reaction. How frustrating was that?

“So what’s your favourite drink to make?”

It felt like he was asking for an innuendo at that time though. Baekhyun grinned. “That’s kind of a difficult question to answer. Because you have to consider many aspects – it shouldn’t be too hard to make with not many ingredients but still pricey enough... and on top of that have fun while making it and a good taste. One drink really fits it. There are many versions of it but my favourite is melon liqueur, coconut rum, pineapple juice, soda and some ice. It’s so good, I’ll make it to you one day if you want,” he offered.

“Sounds sweet... yeah, I think I would like that, thank you.”

“No problem. It’s called Leg Spreader, by the way.”

Baekhyun watched the hot guy burst out laughing. He knew it! He knew that guy was expecting him to mention Sex on the Beach and when nothing like that seemed to be coming, he relaxed, completely unsuspecting. Then Baekhyun caught him by surprise with the Leg Spreader and he had no other choice than to guffaw. So satisfactory for the bartender.

“That’s... does that even exist? Didn’t you just make it up?” the hot guy asked, a smile still playing on his lips.

“It does, I swear, you can look it up,” Baekhyun winked at him.

Before he had been able to figure out whether to make some other flirty comment regarding that, he noticed Jongdae getting up from his seat and Junmyeon becoming the only person at the table. The conversation with the hot guy finally gained some momentum so he kept pondering whether to go there. In the end, he put his hand on the hot guy’s forearm and squeezed it lightly. “I need to talk to my friend but I’ll be back soon and I’m getting us some drinks. So wait for me here, okay?”

“Sure,” was the answer. Just that, no reaction to the subtle, yet not so subtle touch.

Baekhyun’s enthusiasm still wasn’t wavered by that. He flashed the hot guy a bright smile, leaving him alone at the railing. Then he made his way through the crowded club once again, people bumping into him left and right but fortunately no drinks spilled.

“So, how is it going?” he plopped down into the chair beside Junmyeon, visibly startling the elder.  
  
“Quite good, thank you for asking. What about you? How’s it going with the tall guy?” Junmyeon said after regaining some composure.  
  
“Great. Well, it turned out he was actually staring at Jongdae... but don’t tell him that, his confidence will go through the roof and he’ll be insufferable. Anyway, the tall guy kind of lost interested in him since I told him Jongdae was straight and just hanging out with his gay friends.”  
  
“Baekhyun!”  
  
“What?” Baekhyun feigned unawareness at first. “You should be thanking me, you know! What if the hot tall guy decided to hit on Jongdae... would you be okay with that? I get that you probably don’t want to come on too strong too soon after the break-up but think about it like that – Jongdae is a good-looking guy. As you can see, there’s quite a demand for his attention... so what if, as you’ll be patiently waiting for the right timing, some other guy decides to ask him out and Jongdae says yes? Won’t you regret it?”

He was unable to hide the irritation in his voice. He just couldn’t understand why all the waiting to make a move was necessary. Too much cautiousness could only cause harm in that situation. Going headfirst into it would be much better – at least, it meant knowing where Junmyeon stood instead of hopelessly wondering how Jongdae actually felt about him.  
  
“Don’t you think I know all that? But the last thing I want to do is to make him feel uncomfortable... or even drive him away.”  
  
Baekhyun tried really hard not to roll his eyes at that. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear you... but if you don’t take any risks how can you expect everything will turn out the way you want? That somehow a magical, safe opportunity will appear and it will all be perfect? That’s not how life works... you’ve been around, you should know that. So, do you want me to tell you what I would do if I were you?”  
  
“Wouldn’t you tell me even if I said no?” Junmyeon heaved a sigh.  
  
“Listen carefully,” Baekhyun completely ignored his remark. “I would just charm my way into his pants tonight. It’s too soon to directly ask him out on a date, that’s for sure. You might think that it’s stupid because you want more that just sex. But you’re missing something – Jongdae already likes you. You’re not too blind to see that, right? So if you sleep together he will feel bad for using you just for sex and he will try to make it up for you... and if you’re lucky and good in bed, he might even realize the real depth of his feelings for you too. Brilliant, right?”  
  
“So you’re telling me to sleep with him to guilt him into going out with me?”  
  
“I... wait,” Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows. Why did Junmyeon have to put it like that? “It didn’t sound so mean the way I said it.”  
  
“But it is kind of mean, Baekhyun. Look, I appreciate the effort... or whatever that was... but I don’t want to be his rebound one-night stand.”  
  
The younger man took a breath, preparing to prove his point once again but in the end exhaled without saying anything because he could see how pointless it was. And maybe, just maybe his view could have been, in fact, described as somewhat mean or insensitive. Not that he would have acknowledged it aloud.  “You like him a lot, don’t you?” he smiled at Junmyeon after a moment of silence and patted his head.  
  
“I do,” Junmyeon breathed out.  
  
“Okay, so do it your way,” Baekhyun yielded. It was like casting pearls before swine (yes, he considered his advice to be pearls; not that Junmyeon was a swine – and if he had been, he would have been a very pretty one). Still, even after giving up, he had to say last important pearl of wisdom about the matter at hand. “But remember two things, okay? First, he already likes you. And second, taking a risk sometimes pays off big time.”  
  
“I’ll remember it, thanks,” Junmyeon sounded hesitant but gave him a smile regardless. “Now go back to your tall, hot guy... what’s his name anyway?”  
  
“It’s...” Baekhyun trailed off since he realized he had absolutely no idea.  “I haven’t asked yet,” he giggled sheepishly.  
  
Junmyeon gave him a weird look at first, probably not being able to grasp how somebody could talk to another person for such time and not know that person’s name. But then he just shook his head, showing a familiar amiable smile again. “So go ask and have fun,” he prompted Baekhyun.

The bartender merely smirked as he got up from the seat – of course he would have fun. The fun still waited for him by the railing, he noted with satisfaction. If only the way to his fun had been less crammed – then everything would have been perfect. It took few elbows to the ribcage, countless soles on his feet and one barely dodged raised hand to the face to get there. And when he did, he knew there was something he had been meaning to ask but could not figure out what was the intended question. He concluded it probably hadn’t been that important anyway and just grinned at the hot guy while asking him what he was drinking.

~

Baekhyun was the one to suggest going home at two in the morning. To him, it seemed like the perfect time, plus both he and the hot guy had the perfect amount of drinks in them: just enough to add some spice to things and far from making them nauseous. He could not wait to drag the hot guy into one of their beds (he really didn’t care which one) because he had been awfully unresponsive to any subtle physical contact in public, and from Baekhyun’s experiences, people like that were usually quite wild in private settings. He was truly curious what kind of wild that one had to offer.

As they were leaving, the bartender decided to quickly turn around and do a little quick victory dance to Jongdae and Junmyeon who were still sitting at their table (with too much space between them, especially between their lips, if you asked Baekhyun). The dance also included some lip biting, as well as winking, fists near the crotch and tongue in his cheek… yeah, it might have not been quite classy of Baekhyun, but who cared, he was going to get laid.

Stepping out of the club, Baekhyun was a bit worried because that was a truth defining moment after picking up someone there and that was for one reason only: the club lighting made everybody look hot and mysterious and actually was able to hide many imperfections. On the other hand, the street lights on the pavement had some kind of power which broke that spell and showed people the way they actually were. And he had been burnt many times by this. That time, he knew though that even if the hotness of the hot guy dropped somewhat significantly, he would still be pretty hot and totally worthy to take to bed… and yet, he wanted him to remain as hot as possible for purely selfish and superficial reasons.

What actually happened in a light of a street lamp shocked him almost: the hot guy managed to look even hotter than in the club. Something Baekhyun had never seen before. That guy’s features were finally able to showcase their sharpness, his skin appeared to be flawless and his eyebrows… oh god, his eyebrows must have been created by the angels themselves. That all obviously led to a question Baekhyun had been meaning to ask since he had first laid his eyes on that guy: “My apartment or yours?”

The hot guy, who had been spacing out for a bit, turned at him and his perfect eyebrows created by angels puckered in a weird (yet still attractive) way. “What?”

“I said that – “

“No, I heard what you said,” the hot guy didn’t let him finish. “I just can’t believe you said that… you… what are you even thinking? That I’m going to sleep with you?”

Baekhyun blinked a few times, his brain still not catching up (he might have been wrong about the perfect amount of drinks). “Uh… yeah?”

The hot guy blinked back at him, even more appalled after that confirmation. “And do you realize that you haven’t even asked me what my name is yet?”

The other man almost slapped himself on the forehead: he knew he had meant to ask something but somehow managed to forget. But admits that process of realization he also could not understand why it would be such a big deal. “Well, I do, but I’ve been calling you the hot guy in my hand since the start of the night and it actually seems to fit you perfectly well so I decided to just stick with it,” he chuckled.

“You’re fucking unbelievable,” the hot guy shook his head, exasperated. “I’m going home,” he declared then and didn’t even wait for a response before taking his first step.

No. Just no. What the fuck was that? No! “Hey, wait!” Baekhyun couldn’t think of any smarter way to make him stop… or to fail at making him stop. “Damn it, I said wait!” he shouted more loudly that time and speed walked in front of the leaving man, finally being successful at bringing him to a halt. “What the fuck are you trying to pull here? Because if you’re playing hard to get and want me to run after you, you should know that I’m a pretty terrible runner and I may also give up because I don’t feel like playing games tonight.”

The other man rolled his eyes. Literally. It was that kind of eye roll that could be seen in movies or TV shows, except that one was real and not exaggerated at all. “I’m not playing hard to get or any games. I just don’t want to sleep with someone I’ve just met. And on top of that with someone who hasn’t even asked for my name or basically anything personal.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? And you decided to tell that to me now? After talking to me for the whole night? That’s just… I could have found someone else instead of wasting my time at someone who demands to be treated like a princess.” Yes, Baekhyun was mad. He expected to get some tonight and that all was totally not part of his plan.

“Not putting out after just meeting someone and expecting someone to ask for your name means demanding to be treated like a princess? Are you like completely serious right now?”

Baekhyun was dead serious. And also frustrated as hell. “Well, what do you fucking expect when you go into a club? That someone will come to you and will just hold your hand, look into your eyes and tell you how special you are? You know, you might be hot and all and you probably feel like you can be demanding but this is just stupid. If someone comes to you and you’re not interested, just fucking tell them, for fuck’s sake.”

“Who said I wasn’t interested?” the other man deadpanned. A moment of silence between them had ensued before he let out an irritated sigh. “To be honest, I wasn’t at first but then we talked and it was okay… and I was so stupid and naïve to expect that you will actually ask me my name and maybe number when we get out of the club. And instead of that you, well, turned out to be an asshole.”

Baekhyun had been called an asshole many times in his life. He could admit that in most cases it was justified. But that one? Nope, not even close. “Hey! I’m not an asshole just for not acting according to your princess expectations.”

“You... ah, fuck it, whatever, I’m not going to continue this because it’s stupid. Sorry that you had to waste your time on me instead of finding someone drunk and probably almost unconscious who you could take home and send them on a walk of shame the minute you’re done with them. I truly apologize for that and now, if you let me, I’m going home and I’ll try to forget this whole conversation on my way there.”

The hot guy just walked around him, almost bumping into his shoulder. Baekhyun didn’t even bother to stop him once more. Their talk was done and it would probably be very pleasant for both of them to never see each other again. Anyway, his night was ruined. He had no energy to go back in the club and see if there were any decent leftovers for him to take home so he just chose to leave and try to erase that whole incident out of his memory.

~

After two weeks he had basically no idea anything like that had ever happened. He didn’t think about it at all. His life continued the way it had been, including his cinema nights with his best friend to whom he was heading, looking forward to the new action movie they were going to watch. Jongdae buzzed him in and when he arrived to his door it was already open for him without anyone standing there. That could only mean one thing.

“Kim Jongdae, how many times do I have to tell you to get ready before I arrive? I really hate waiting before you make a person out of the mess you are at home,” he shouted as he closed the door and immediately flopped on the sofa.

There was no response to that, as expected. He played with his phone for a little while but got bored soon. “So, how is it going with mister perfect? Are you still letting him wait or what? Because if you are, you should know that you’re dumb and you might actually end up alone since somebody will snatch him before you make up your pretty little mind.”

At that Jongdae appeared in his living room only in his underwear and putting on socks. “Can you, please, just stop with that,” he sighed.

“What? I’m just saying. And put on some clothes, please, looking at you like that is actually hurting my eyes.”

The owner of the apartment glanced down at his socks and underwear. Standing there just like that, it really didn’t look good. “Sorry, my feet were cold,” he shuffled back to the bedroom.

Baekhyun thought to himself that it was not an excuse for hurting his aesthetic sense and also quickly recognized that sending his mostly naked friend away meant being alone again. So he began to look around the apartment for something that would entertain him while waiting. The thing that stood out to him was a women’s magazine on the coffee table.

“Jongdae, since when do you buy women’s magazines?”

“Since Joseph Gordon-Levitt is on the cover of one of them.”

Of course, Jongdae and his obsession with that actor. “Hmm, I see… well, I thought that you bought it because of the section on sex advice they have.”

“And why would I need that?” Jongdae jumped on his one leg back to the living room, trying to put on his skinny jeans. “I’m not a woman.”

“Yeah, I know that, I’ve seen your junk way too many times… but it’s not just all that, they surely must give some advice on blow jobs as well. Maybe you want to impress Junmyeon when you finally decide to go on a date with him.”

Baekhyun deserved the pillow in the face and he knew it. That didn’t stop him from chuckling at his best friend who had gone back to his room, most probably to spend 20 minutes on deciding what shirt he should wear.

In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to actually look at those sex tips, there could be something interesting or even better, something he could laugh at for being stupid, Baekhyun concluded. So he opened the magazine and took his time browsing through it since Jongdae would take his sweet time in the bedroom.

The first few pages were not that interesting. Some talk about new products, recent events, celebrity scandals and so on. The next were even more boring with the interviews and quotes from them which were meant to be inspirational but actually lacked sense. So when the fashion part came, Baekhyun was naturally excited. At least he could look at some hot male models.

It was the latest collection by some brand that was too expensive for him to know more about. The models were mixed in terms of nationality which was kind of interesting and he noted that a one European looking guy there was damn attractive. Baekhyun wouldn’t mind touching those abs… and doing some other things as well, of course. His smile was all satisfied after those thoughts as he turned the page. And that was when he saw it.

“Of fucking course… I knew it,” he mumbled at first. He had to snicker because he found it absolutely hilarious for some reason. “I knew it, I fucking knew it, he had to be a model!” a shout left his throat.

Jongdae scuffed his feet to his friend, already dressed. “Who’s a model?”

“That freaking princess asshole!”

It made so much sense.

“Princess asshole? You mean that one that didn’t want to sleep with you a few weeks ago?”

“Exactly that one.”

“Hmm… shouldn’t you be the asshole in that situation?”

Baekhyun glared at his best friend. “Whose side are you on exactly?”

“His,” Jongdae chirped cheerfully. “Show him to me.”

The other man was reluctant to do so after such betrayal but the need in him to show it to someone else won in the end. He shoved the magazine right in front of Jongdae’s eyes. “Look.”

Baekhyun did not need confirmation that it was the princess asshole. As much as he hated to admit that, those features were unforgettable. The jawline, the nose, those eyes, those damn eyebrows and of course the broadest shoulders in the world (exaggeration was completely legitimate in that case). The only two differences were too much make-up on him and clothes that any normal person wouldn’t wear in public.

“Well…” Jongdae had fallen silent for a second before his eyes started twinkling. “Should we frame it?”

“Why the fuck would we frame it?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s the first guy who called you out on your asshole dating behaviour, it’s kind of a historical moment. One of the important ones for our mankind.”

Baekhyun pushed Jongdae down from the armrest he had been kneeling on. “Stop being so happy about it. Anyway, I should find his name there somewhere, right?”

Getting up from the floor, Jongdae gave him a curious look but didn’t ask any questions. “Sorry, but I don’t think so.”

“Yeah… well, it doesn’t matter anyway, I couldn’t care less about that princess who probably thinks he’s better than all of us just because of his superior looks.”

“Baekhyun, I really don’t think that he was trying to…”

All it took for him to shut up was Baekhyun’s one look. He had already forgotten about all that and was so not looking for another debate and roasting. “Let’s not, okay? This was just a stupid coincidence which, as a matter of fact, proved that I was right about him being a model or something like that,” he glanced at his watch. “And it’s already time to head out if you want your popcorn and candies.”

Jongdae’s expression softened as he smiled at his best friend. “Okay, let’s go,” he put his arm around him and squeezed him in a small hug. Baekhyun might have tried to look unfazed but to him he was an open book.

~

After this incident, Baekhyun could not get that model out of his head. He saw him basically everywhere in the city. It was maddening because the more he tried to repress it the more he had to think about him. He refused to acknowledge that it might have been because he regretted how he had acted and realized some things… no, for him that was definitely not the case. In his opinion, the model was stuck in his head because he wanted to roll his eyes at him and tell him that just because he was a model he didn’t have to have such high standards and act like a princess who needs to have all the attention in the world.

Only because of that reason he desperately wanted to meet him somewhere by accident. He purposely went to the club where they had met as much as he could but the model was nowhere in sight. That led him to the conclusion that life is not a movie and people don’t just coincidentally meet on the streets or in a restaurant or coffee shop in a big city. Once you let someone go, there is basically a zero chance to meet them again.

However, that conviction was shattered one Thursday night when Baekhyun was polishing glasses behind the bar. He was honestly bored out of his mind so when he heard the door open it made him excited that some new fun customer could come in. As he looked up, the automatic friendly smile on his face disappeared and all that was left was his gaping mouth. The only thing he could think of in that shock was that his life probably was a Hollywood movie and he was the main protagonist.

That princess, asshole model was standing there, looking all freaking hot. Next to him was another male who was just a little bit shorter, a lot tanner, but equally hot. And Baekhyun knew at the moment that if those two were there on a date, he was going to shove his head into the bucket of ice they kept for the drinks.

Yet right away, he had other things to be worried about. The two hotties started to approach the bar and as the familiar model scanned the room with his cold, focused look, his eyes landed on the bartender looking completely panicky and flustered. But somehow, instead of beginning to look the same, the guy simply smirked and averted his gaze from him like he was not worth any more seconds of attention. And that, exactly that made Baekhyun freaking angry. He forgot all his previous thoughts and not knowing how to act and he reminded himself that that guy was nothing more than a demanding, whiny model with absurdly high standards that had turned him down.

Putting on his best indifferent expression, he came up to the left end part of the bar where that model with his friend decided to sit down and gave them the most unimpressed look he was capable of in that moment. “What can I get you?” Monotone voice was a must.

“Just two beers, thank you,” said the other male with a small smile.

It was super hard not to smile back at him because Baekhyun was the kindest, most friendly bartender you could ever meet and that guy was definitely really, really cute, but he managed it and mentally pat himself on the back.

It took him merely few seconds to open the beers, shove them in front of that couple and move as far away from them as possible yet not too far so that he wouldn’t seem like he was afraid of confrontation or something. Because he wasn’t. That model could say anything to him and it wouldn’t mean a thing. Yes, he was prepared and ready for an explosion, ready to be showered with disapproving looks and biting remarks.

The pair was sitting there for one hour and four minutes and had three more beers each when Baekhyun realized none of that was happening. It seemed as if the model didn’t recognize him or had forgotten about their encounter… but that was bullshit, he had smirked at him when he had walked in, hadn’t he? So he must have recognized him. Maybe it just didn’t mean anything to him then. He hadn’t been contemplating it at all. And since he didn’t care Baekhyun didn’t care as well. Why should he anyway?

Well, because that guy had an A plus ass that was why. Baekhyun couldn’t stop himself from staring at it when the model left for the bathroom. Damn that piece of pure hotness.

“Hey!”

Baekhyun almost dropped a glass he was holding when someone shouted straight into his right ear. He turned his head just to yell at that person but was taken completely aback when he saw the face of that model’s company.

“Y-Yeah?” was all that he managed to stammer out.

“It is not a coincidence that we are here,” the handsome guy told him with a mysterious voice, as if he was telling him some government secrecy.

Baekhyun must have been either half-deaf after that sudden shout or just completely shocked that comprehension was impossible for him. “What?”

“Well, it was a damn long and annoying process… the night you two met, my friend saw that you were there together with Junmyeon-hyung so he pestered me for a whole week to message him and ask where you work so we could show up and he could look like the winner or whatever. Anyway, the important thing is that…”

“Wait, wait, wait, what?” Baekhyun felt like a well trained parrot, repeating the same words again and again. So he took a deep breath, deciding to produce a well-formed sentence. “That doesn’t make sense, Junmyeon didn’t know that guy when we met him in the club.”

The handsome guy grinned and shook his head like other handsome people do in those commercials on the beach to show how shiny and silky their hair is after using the right shampoo. “Well, Junmyeon-hyung wasn’t exactly sober when they met that one time so it’s pretty understandable that he doesn’t remember him. But that is not the important part,” the guy waved his hand in front of his own face as if to remind himself to go straight to the point and not to waste time on funny yet unimportant details. “The important part is that we came here. My friend wanted to come here. He wanted to see you and show off in front of you. That is the information I’m offering. What you do with it is completely up to you.”

Even though Baekhyun would have loved to tell that guy that yes, of course, he totally understood everything and knew what to do with that information, the reality was completely different. He had no freaking idea what the hell was happening. “So you’re telling me that...?” he tried to appeal for a further explanation but was cut off immediately.

“I think it’s obvious what I’m telling you here. And now I need to go back to my seat because if he saw me talking to you, he would make my life a living hell,” the handsome guy turned quickly but hadn’t even made one step before turning back. “And just by the way: if you screw up and make him upset once again, I’m the one who is going to make your life a living hell. I hope and trust that you are not just some stupid screw-boy. Because if you were I think that my friend wouldn’t be so hung up on your little disagreement. But if you turn out to be one and approach him again… I will honestly slam your head against this bar,” he said and immediately returned to his stool.

Baekhyun watched him with utter confusion, still trying to piece together all the information and thoughts to arrive at some conclusion that would make sense. It was only when the model came back and left the bar with his friend that everything clicked in Baekhyun’s head and he knew exactly what he had to do.

~

It was not so simple to achieve what he had planned that Thursday night though. Coming up with a plan was easy enough. Execution, on the other hand, appeared to be a much greater challenge. He cursed way too many times at the friend of that model because he should have given him more information. What was he supposed to do when he knew so little about the guy? It took a lot of different impossible strategies that had formed in his head (and had been dismissed after few seconds) to find the one that seemed doable.

The only shame was that doable didn’t equal effortless or simple in that case. On the contrary, it actually equalled walking into the bar where he worked on a Wednesday night, while his best friend was shooting questioning looks at him as he sat down right next to his new boyfriend, Junmyeon.

“What do you need, Baekhyun?” Jongdae asked him because he knew his friend well enough and was very much aware that Baekhyun wouldn’t have left his apartment and his night of gaming for a chat with his friends. He must have wanted something.

“From you I need a beer, but other than that, I actually came here to talk to your boyfriend so it would be very nice if you could give us some space, thank you.”

The smile Baekhyun shot at him apparently didn’t work considering how Jongdae narrowed his eyes in a very disapproving manner. “There is no way I’m letting you talk to him without supervision.”

“Well, it was worth the try,” Baekhyun shrugged and turned to the nicely clothed businessman sitting next to him. “Hello, Junmyeon, I’m glad I could get hold of you this fine evening. Can I buy you a drink before we start?”

“Hello to you as well, Baekhyun, and there’s no need for you to do that, really,” Junmyeon gave him his kind smile and it was obvious he already knew what was all the comedy about.

Baekhyun therefore decided not to waste any more time and go straight to the point. “Okay, I couldn’t afford that freakishly expensive whisky you drink anyway,” he chuckled and scratched at his nape since he was beginning to feel kind of nervous for no specific reason. “You see, I didn’t have your number and I didn’t want to ask that unhelpful best friend of mine since he would probably just tell me to go to hell as he seems to be very protective of you,” he ignored the burning gaze Jongdae sent him. “I’m in bit of a complicated situation, you could say. I’m looking for someone but I do not know their name which makes it a bigger challenge than one would expect… and well, since you have already given someone the information about where I work, I thought that it could work the other way around as well.”

Junmyeon was listening to him attentively as the nice guy he was and nodded a few times when Baekhyun finished. “So, if I understand this correctly, you want to know where he works?”

“Exactly. To be specific, I’d like you to find out the name of the modelling agency where he works. Do you think it would be possible?” Baekhyun started to chew on his lower lip. That was it, the important connection he had to make in order to be able to execute his masterful plan.

“I don’t need to find out, I already know it because Jongin works for the same agency so let me write that down for you.”

Baekhyun gaped at him at first because he hadn’t expected it would be that easy. But that expression quickly turned into a satisfied grin as he watched Junmyeon scribble the name at a receipt. “So the name of that friend is Jongin… how do you two know each other?”

Junmyeon stopped writing right then and there and for the first time, he appeared to be fully aware of the fact that Jongdae was listening to their conversation. “Well, we… we just met and became friends, nothing complicated about that,” he said way too fast to succeed at making it seem like it was just something casual. “Anyway, here’s the name of the modelling agency. Good luck.”

“Thank you, Junmyeon, you’re my hero,” Baekhyun hugged him and chose not to push him into talking more about Jongin since Junmyeon had been so nice to him.

Jongdae didn’t look very pleased with that short hug but just rolled eyes and didn’t comment since he knew how clingy his best friend tended to be. “What do you plan to do with it?” he asked instead.

Baekhyun had folded the paper with the name of the agency, put it into his pocket and taken a sip of beer before answering the question. “I’m going to hire him as a model,” he said confidently since he was proud of his plan. “You know how Minseok plans to make some ads for his new gym… well, he was looking for a person who would be a model for the pictures and when I presented this idea to him he agreed. So the only thing left to do was finding the agency where the guy worked… and your handsome boyfriend was the only clue I had because I still don’t know that guy’s name.”

Even though he was confident it was brilliant, Jongdae didn’t seem to be impressed with that at all. At least that could be guessed from the deep sigh and head shaking. “I wouldn’t expect anything less crazy from you. But will Minseok be able to afford it?”

“Well… that depends…” Baekhyun cleared his throat and took another sip of beer. “We still don’t know the price… but Minseok has a budget for it and the rest of the price… I kind of… I somehow offered to pay the difference if it’s more.”

“You what?!” his best friend couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Baekhyun, have you actually gone crazy? You are going to pay probably not a small amount of money just to see this guy? That’s just…” he was at a loss for words.

“Calm down, it’s not like I’m going broke or something. I did some research on how much it can cost and even if he’s above average expensive it won’t be that bad… look, you have to understand that I can’t just come up to him and ask him out. He can’t expect this and he has to be swept off his feat, there is no other way.”

“Okay, fine, it’s your money.” Jongdae didn’t look much more convinced after that statement but at least it didn’t seem like he was ready to lecture Baekhyun anymore. Well, that was true only until he realized something else. “You don’t plan to pretend that Minseok is your boyfriend, right?”

Baekhyun stiffened.

“Because that would be incredibly stupid and could actually drive that guy away.”

Well, when he was thinking about it more…

“And you know that you are a crappy actor and tend to overact in situations like this… he would probably realize it after a few seconds.”

That was not entirely true but not entirely false either.

“Oh and don’t even get me started on Minseok. That guy couldn’t lie even if his life depended on it.”

Yeah, it wasn’t the best of Baekhyun’s ideas and it was time to abort that part of his plan. “Fine, fine, don’t worry, I won’t do anything like that,” he gave up but not without the last biting remark. “I don’t want to make you jealous by making out with your ex.”

Jongdae immediately threw a dish towel at his face and appeared to be ready to jump over the bar to strangle him.

“That Minseok guy is your ex?” Junmyeon inquired a bit hesitantly. He and Jongdae were still at the first stage of a relationship where talking about exes was not exactly the most comfortable thing to do.

“Yeah, we dated a long time ago and we remained friends after that. You would meet him some day anyway so I wanted to mention him at a more appropriate time, but that’s kind of ruined now,” the bartender sighed.

“He was Jongdae’s first boyfriend and they dated in high school. They were so lovey-dovey that I actually felt like puking rainbows when I saw them together,” he laughed and secretly took a glance at his best friend to make sure it was okay to say all that. Jongdae seemed to be more embarrassed than angry which was a good sign. “But it didn’t last and now I can vouch that they are just friends. Without benefits of any kind.”

“Thanks, Baekhyun, for being immensely helpful as always.”

“Although, I have to mention that when they dated Minseok was a bit chubby… still really cute and handsome though. But now… now he basically has this body of a Greek god so it is truly hard to be just friends with him.”

Jongdae made Baekhyun yelp by pinching his forearm pretty hard. “Again, thank you, but I think we have heard enough for today.”

“It was my pleasure,” Baekhyun bolted from his seat to be safe from more pinching. “I think I’m going to go now and perfect the rest of my masterful plan so see you,” he waved at the couple.

“Good luck!” and “Don’t make it even crazier!” were the two things he heard on his way out. He was very aware how much he needed the first one and how he had to be very careful to follow the second one. He put his hand in his pocket and clenched the piece of paper there. It was his golden ticket. He planned to make use of it and there was no way in hell he was backing down.

~

“I can’t believe I’m actually letting you do this.”

Baekhyun grinned and continued to style his hair in the mirror. He had to look good… no, scratch that, he had to look irresistible. That was why his attire consisted of black ripped jeans and white shirt with a strategic number of buttons undone. “It’s just hard to say no to me, Minseok, don’t worry about it. And where’s the risk for you, anyway? You’ll get a great model for your ad and you didn’t pay more money than was in your budget. It’s actually advantageous for you.”

His friend looked him up and down, most probably not convinced with that statement. “That might be true but what if he sees you and just walks away?”

“Don’t worry, he would have to pay a cancellation fee and that is not so cheap. There is no way for him to escape,” Baekhyun said with somewhat sinister tone.

Minseok must have considered whether his friend was actually mentally stable at that point but decided against telling him so. You shouldn’t provoke such people. “Well, you obviously have a plan. And how did it go at the modelling agency anyway? You’ve never told me.”

“It went fine. It is actually pretty easy to hire a model. I just said at the reception that I needed someone for an ad. The receptionist asked about the nature of it and then started to offer me their buff guys and what not but I declined that and said that I was looking for someone normal looking in terms of body,” Baekhyun was done with styling his hair and went to wash his hands from all that gel on his fingers. “And then it was pretty normal. She gave me this huge book with pictures of all their models so I had to look like I was contemplating for a moment and I chose three of them, she gave me their portfolios and then I picked the one I wanted and that was pretty much it. Just some paperwork and he was mine.”

Minseok didn’t feel like pointing out that the model wasn’t actually his because Baekhyun looked way too happy and satisfied. It would be insensitive of him to ruin that. “Yeah, that sounds easy enough. So now you know his name? There must have been some name with the pictures, right?”

“You would think so but no,” the bartender shook his head. “They don’t give out the real names of their models, they use only nicknames.”

“I see… but that’s at least something. You don’t have to call him ‘the model’ in your head anymore. So what is the nickname?”

Corners of Baekhyun’s mouth curled because it filled him with so much happiness for some reason to know the nickname. “It’s Hun,” he couldn’t erase the smile from his lips. “I don’t know if it’s somehow related to his real name or if it’s something made up though. His friend’s Jongin’s nickname is Kai so I guess that it can be entirely different.”

Minseok hummed and nodded his head in understanding. The situation was actually quite new and funny for him. He had never seen his friend acting like lovesick puppy before and they had known each other since high school. He had seen Baekhyun have many crushes, of course, but what he felt about Hun seemed completely different. The only shame was that Minseok wasn’t sure if Baekhyun was aware of that difference.

However, they had no time to talk about that since the time of the shoot was approaching. Minseok had to arrange some details with the photographer he had hired for it while Baekhyun checked if everything was okay on the set. It was not like he only came there to make use of it, he actually helped his friend with the whole concept and proposed his own ideas how to make the ad so it would appeal to the local people.

He forgot about the time for few minutes and therefore yelped from shock when Minseok pulled him by his elbow and half-whispered, half-shouted: “That must be him, right?”

Baekhyun turned his head so quickly to the entrance that his vision became momentarily blurry and he had to concentrate really hard to focus it again. But even when the lines were blurry he knew that Minseok was not mistaken. It was that model. That princess model with irritatingly high standards. The hot tall guy. It was Hun, standing there outside the glass wall and checking the name of the gym and the address.

So naturally the best thing Baekhyun thought of was to push Minseok in front of him when Hun gripped the door handle and walked inside.

“Good afternoon. I was sent here by my agency, my name is Hun and you must be Kim Minseok, the owner of this gym, right?”

Hun stretched out his arm and his work-smile was really nice and friendly yet he still made it obvious that it was just for business.

“Yes, that would be me. I’m glad to finally meet you, Hun. Do you want something to drink before we start or could I offer you…?”

Minseok was not able to finish his welcoming speech because Hun’s attention completely shifted from him to something else. He was focusing his gaze behind him and the focus intensified each second so much that Minseok stared to worry if there wouldn’t be burned holes in Baekhyun after that encounter.

“What are you doing here?” if Hun was shocked or at least surprised, he didn’t show it much. He went straight to being clearly irritated.

“I’m Minseok’s friend and I’m helping him to set up his gym,” Baekhyun answered simply. That was not the reaction he had been anticipating. Why Hun always had to act in a way that was not part of the plan?

Hun seemed like he wanted to inquire more but probably realized that he would just please the other guy by paying attention to him. So he turned back to Minseok. “Sorry about that. And I don’t need anything. Just tell me where the clothes are and where I can change,” he uttered with the most professional tone of voice, void of any emotion.

After Minseok had shown him where everything was, he quickly disappeared to the changing room without a word.

“That went well enough,” Baekhyun smiled at Minseok and went back to finishing the last touches on the set.

Yes, it wasn’t completely according to his plan but that could happen. Nothing to freak out over. It was only natural that Hun wasn’t exactly excited to see him… it was his work and he had to be professional so that was a bit restricting for him and maybe also little unfair but Baekhyun was sure that Hun would relax in few minutes and realize the nice gesture and incredibly masterful plan to woo him. He just needed more time to adjust and think about it, comprehend what Baekhyun had to go through only to meet him again.

It appeared to be working since Hun looked much less tense when he walked out in the first gym clothes outfit of the day. However, the one who got really tense was Baekhyun.

When they had met in the club that one night, Baekhyun hadn’t focused or even thought of Hun’s body that much. He had been way too taken in by his perfect facial features and height. So seeing how toned his arms were in a sleeveless top took Baekhyun completely by surprise. He gulped and his hands became uncomfortably clammy. How was it even possible for one human being to be this sexy? Baekhyun suddenly felt like a piece of garbage and like all the effort he put into his looks basically went to waste next to that perfection and…

No! No way in hell! He, Byun Baekhyun, the master of confidence was not ready to feel like shit because of one guy. Hun might have been incredibly hot and what not but Baekhyun was a triple threat: he was handsome, cute and funny. He had his own assets and he shouldn’t have undermined himself just because some guy had been born with superior genes.

He finally relaxed and leaned against the wall in a comfortable manner. He watched Minseok give Hun some directions on how he wanted the photos to come out and then nod in satisfaction when Hun was able to follow all that immediately and perfectly. The photographer also praised Hun’s expressions and posses and all went pretty smoothly.

“He’s actually really good. The ads will come out great, don’t you think?” Minseok came to his friend when Hun had gone to change into the next outfit.

“Definitely. I just have an amazing taste in guys, you must admit that.”

Minseok chuckled at that and ruffled Baekhyun’s hair. “You do… well, in terms of looks anyway,” he playfully pinched his cheek.

In that same moment, Hun stepped in and locked eyes with Baekhyun for the first time since their little, not so comfortable interaction. He averted his gaze right away yet it was enough of eye contact for Baekhyun to know that Hun was not indifferent about that whole situation. He might have tried to appear so but the reality was different.

The rest of the shoot went without any problem as well and they finished pretty quickly. Minseok immediately thanked Hun and praised him for such a great work, promising him that he or any of his friends were welcomed in the gym any time and he would give them special price. Hun seemed to be happy with the compliments, possibly forgetting for a moment that Baekhyun was intently watching him, and finally showed an honest smile for the first time that day.

It was all slowly ending, which meant that it was time for the last part of the plan. Baekhyun assumed a position right next to the door of the changing room and waited for Hun to come out. His hands were shaking with anticipation and a bit of nervousness. When it had been the last time he had felt like that about trying to woo someone? He couldn’t remember.

Then Hun’s nape suddenly appeared in front of him and woke him from his contemplation.

“Great job,” he said loudly enough so the other man would hear him.

And Hun heard him. He stopped for a second, back turned against Baekhyun. His wide shoulders formed a completely perfect straight line. His hair was dishevelled as he had probably changed quickly so that he could go home. He just stood there in his tall perfection in the middle of Minseok’s gym. And then he left. Left without a word.

Baekhyun blinked. Once. Twice. Eighteen times.

That was it? That was all he was going to get? No asking out, no playing hard to get? Not even a word? What the hell was that? Why was he leaving again?

Baekhyun felt lost. So Hun had come to his bar, intentionally sought him out and when Baekhyun had done the same suddenly it had been wrong? What kind of game was Hun trying to play with him? Just what game was that…?

And then it hit him. Since the first time they had met, Baekhyun had been playing a game. All the flirtation, subtle yet perfectly measured and thought-out touches, lying about Jongdae’s sexuality, sexual innuendos, strategic body positions, tone of voice, words, winks, body movements, breaths, gazes and then the plan of hiring him as a model… Baekhyun had never done anything spontaneous, anything just because he had felt like it. For him it was a game. A game where you had to measure your opponent well and then choose the right strategy to defeat him. There was a winner and a loser and a reward to be seized.

Baekhyun had been thinking about dating like that all his life… and not even dating actually, just primarily seducing people and making them fall for him. He had trusted himself in that game. He had been sure about his capabilities. And when something hadn’t worked out? There had been another game to play, another person to seduce.

But Hun didn’t see it the same way. He had probably been genuinely looking for something real, for someone who wouldn’t try to play games with him, bullshit him and then turn out completely different. When he had come to the bar, it hadn’t been a well measured, calculated and provoking gesture… he had just felt like it. He had probably seen something more in Baekhyun. Something that even Baekhyun wasn’t able to see in himself at that moment.

Baekhyun darted out of the gym and looked around hastily.

On the left and approaching the crosswalk.

And Baekhyun ran.

“Wait!”

Hun was already at the other side of the street when Baekhyun’s shout made him halt.

One, two, free, four, five cars, and Baekhyun was right next to him. Sweaty, out of breath and with messy hair from the wind.

“What… what’s your name?”

Baekhyun knew it was his last chance. It could blow up in his face completely. But he was not ready to let that person go. Because for the first time in his life, someone hadn’t been satisfied with his cheap gameplay. Someone had actually tried to look for something more and believed there could be something more.

Hun measured him with his gaze for a little while and then suddenly looked away, as if he was searching for a way to escape. Yet he didn’t move at all.

“It’s Oh Sehun.”

He still wasn’t looking at Baekhyun but his expression visibly softened.

“I’m Byun Baekhyun and… and I wish that we could start again.”

Baekhyun felt like closing his eyes. It was like when people are watching a demolition of a house and they see the person in charge placing his hand on a button and the tension is just so great that they have to close their eyes because they are half excided and half scared at the same time. For some reason, the closing of eyes makes one feel a bit safer. Like if we don’t see it, it is not going to hurt us.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

The button was pressed. And Baekhyun was glad that he hadn’t closed his eyes because missing Sehun’s soft, shy expression would have been the biggest mistake of his life.

And apart from that… demolition isn’t always something bad. It means destroying the old and building the new. And Baekhyun was more than happy to destroy his old game playing self to finally have something real in his life.

“Great. I know a great café nearby and if you have time now, maybe we could…”

Baekhyun vaguely gestured with his hands since he didn’t really have the ending of that sentence and started fidgeting because of all the unfamiliarity of putting himself truly out there.

“Yeah, I have some time.”

Sehun simpered because seeing Baekhyun so flustered and spontaneous was without a doubt one of the cutest things ever.

“So… it’s a date?”

“Yes… yes, it is a date.”

~ **Two months later** ~

There were several knocks on the door Jongdae decided to ignore. He was determined to ignore even the loud, pleading knocking they turned to, but a sudden, urgent shouting immediately ruined the entire mood that he tried to save.

“Hey, you two, I know you are there so would you stop grinding against each other and open the door because I really need your relationship guidance!”

Jongdae looked at his boyfriend who was lying under him. That was a wrong move because Junmyeon, as the nice guy he was, seemed to be ready to let the loud intruder in. Jongdae sighed, rolled down and went to open the door. It was not like he had a choice.

“Finally, what took you so long?” Baekhyun kicked off his shoes and didn’t even bother to try to look at least a bit sorry for ruining the couple’s night. “And Junmyeon, buckle your belt, please, it looks really weird like that.”

Junmyeon started blushing immediately and quickly did what he had been told to save himself from more embarrassment.

Jongdae would have felt sorry for him if it hadn’t been Junmyeon who had wanted to let Baekhyun in. “I’m getting us wine,” he left for the kitchen because he was definitely not ready to hear his best friend talk about his relationship issues completely sober.

“So what’s the problem, Baekhyun? I thought everything was going great,” Junmyeon cleared his throat, looking less like a ripe tomato in his face.

“It’s just… why won’t he let me in?” Baekhyun whined and threw himself on the sofa.

Junmyeon patted him on the back, trying to be supportive. “In where? His life? Or his apartment? Or… you know… him?” he cleared his throat once again because talking about such thing was definitely rather awkward.

The subsequent silence was interrupted by the sound of a cork being pulled out of a wine bottle and then by pouring of the wine.

“No, that’s not the problem… any of that. I met his friends and we do a lot of stuff together. And of course that I’ve been in his apartment… it was exciting to visit an apartment where only models live… but then it was disappointing because instead of seeing some expensive beauty products and designer clothes, all that I experienced was how he and Jongin lie all day in their sweatpants in front of a TV, play video games and eat unhealthy food.”

Junmyeon and Jongdae exchanged an amused look at that point.

“And the last thing is definitely not an issue, we’ve been…”

“Enough, enough, we don’t want to hear details from your sex life,” Jongdae stopped his best friend soon enough and poured himself another glass of wine. “So where is the issue?”

Baekhyun rolled over on his side and took a chip from a bowl Jongdae had brought together with the wine. “It’s hard to describe. I don’t know, I just feel like he doesn’t trust me completely… like he still has some doubts about the relationship. He doesn’t say anything but I can feel it. And when I ask, he tells me that it’s nothing and that I’m just making it all up. But I know for sure that I’m not… so what do I do?”

“And have you given him any reason not to trust you?” Junmyeon asked.

“No! That’s the thing… I haven’t fucked up at all. And I really, really care about him and I try to do everything to let him know that I am serious about him.”

From the tone of his voice and his words, the couple could tell that Baekhyun was being honest. And they had seen him being so in love and happy for the past two months.

“And have you apologized to him?” Jongdae had slowly moved to the sofa and was then sitting right under Baekhyun on the floor.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know, if you apologized for the first time you two met. I know you have figured some things out since then but does he know that? You have to admit that you acted like a dick and then even advocated your asshole behaviour. I would be still pissed about that if I was him.”

Baekhyun lifted his head from the sofa and looked at his best friend. Could that possibly be it? It was true that they hadn’t talked about that at all. They had just started anew, not really mentioning the past, except for when their friends had teased them about it. And Baekhyun then truly understood how badly he had acted and how his way of treating people had sucked.

“Jongdae might be right. And even if he’s not it wouldn’t hurt to talk about it. You were really mean then and I think you realize that now so it would be nice to let Sehun know, don’t you think so?”

Baekhyun only nodded, still deep in his own thoughts.

~

Later that night, Baekhyun knocked on another door in a different part of the city in little bit of a tipsy state. But his mind was definitely clear in terms of what he needed to say.

“Baekhyun? I didn’t know you were coming,” Jongin opened the door, fully clothed and presumably on his way out. “Sehun is in his room and I have a hot date so I should get going. See you,” he passed by Baekhyun, ruffling his hair, which had become his habit even though he was the younger one between them.

And so Baekhyun entered the apartment and closed the door behind him when at the same moment, the door to his boyfriend’s room opened.

“Hi, I heard you talking to Jongin, what are you doing here?” he asked but didn’t even wait for an answer before leaning in to kiss Baekhyun.

When they pulled away, Baekhyun still stayed close and squeezed Sehun’s hands before intertwining their fingers. “I needed to tell you something… because I might have figured out why you seem so distant from time to time.”

“Baekhyun, I’ve already told you that…”

“I know, I know, but I can feel it… and honestly, you have every right to. I acted like a huge asshole when we met. And I realize that now, I truly do. I shouldn’t have treated you like you very obliged to sleep with me after spending a night talking in the bar… and I definitely  shouldn’t have said that you were demanding and acted like a princess or whatever else I said that night. And I regret that. But you see, I was really stupid back then… I treated dating like a game and I only cared about winning and scoring…”

Baekhyun felt how Sehun held his hand more tightly.

“You helped me to realize how wrong it is to treat people that way. And I want you to know that I changed and that I’m not trying to play games anymore. And I’m truly sorry about everything I said and everything that happened.”

He could see it then in Sehun’s eyes it was exactly that which haunted his mind. But hearing those words from Baekhyun stared to chase all the worries and insecurities away. It was not going to be completely fine and perfect right away but finally, they were able to work on it.

“Gosh, I still can’t believe you were interested after that…” Baekhyun exhaled like he had been holding his breath throughout all of his speech.

“What can I say, you can be irresistibly charming,” Sehun laughed and rested his forehead against Baekhyun’s. “And to be honest, when you weren’t trying to get me into bed and didn’t act in such a calculating way, I really felt like I wanted to get to know you more.”

Baekhyun chuckled. All he had tried to do was produce a perfect gameplay to meet numerous people and have fun. But then, in front of him, there was standing a person who had tried to see the real him and found him to be enough and perhaps even more than that.

Baekhyun leaned in to steal Sehun’s lips, experiencing the feeling of unconditional love for the first time in his life.


End file.
